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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 12 page research paper on Optimality Theory (OT), which is considered to be the leading linguistic theory of the 1990s. However, the writer argues that OT has considerable problems and is not a better model of phonology, only a different one. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
12 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khot.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the rule-based serial phonological model. However, while OT has much to recommend it, some linguists feel that OT does not provide a better model of phonology than previous models. These
critics point to the fact that OT "does not provide us with a substantive theory of grammar right away, not does it automatically lead to a unified view of set-up
syntax" (Dekker, et al, 2000, p. 19). The follow discussion will examine the parameters of OT, what it is and its significance, as well as at problem areas of OT,
such as opacity and ineffability. Ideally, a phonological model should encompass the entirety of this field, providing a logical template for exploring all eventualities. While OT helps in facilitating
such a model, as the following discussion will illustrate, it is not perfect. Background Information The central hypothesis that drives modern linguistic research is due to the work
of Noam Chomsky, who posited in the 1960s that human beings in an innate ability to learn language (Archangeli, 1997). However, Chomsky also proposed that there limits on what sounds
or strings of sounds can constitute a human language. The universal "properties of the worlds languages result from inflexibility in this innate language capacity" (Archangeli, 1997, p. 2). Linguists employ
the term "universal grammar to refer to the innate language knowledge that is inherent in the human brain (Archangeli, 1997). OT is a linguistic model that encompasses both universal and
"language-specific" properties, and how they are expressed (Archangeli, 1997). OT made its public debut at the University of Arizona Phonology Conference
in Tucson in April of 1991, when Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky presented a paper entitled "Optimality" (Archangeli, 1997). While OT has impacted all of linguistics, but, in particular,
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